The autumn wind is blowing and the coolness is strong, but at this time of the year, no matter how cold the weather is, it cannot stop the enthusiasm of the royal palace nobles and dignitaries to go hunting in the paddocks of Nanshan Mountain.
Because everyone knows that hunting is actually the best time to cling to power, make friends with powerful people, and find a desirable spouse for your children.
Therefore, every year during the autumn hunt, there must be a large number of casual teams. Those courtiers are eager to bring all the concubines born to the maid of the same family, so as not to protect the girl who is usually unpopular, and is lucky enough to call a certain prince.
Maybe Prince Beizi has taken a liking to it!
There have been such lucky people over the years. Even if they enter the Prince's Mansion or the Prince's Mansion, they may not be ranked among the oldest.
But if it flies on a branch, it won't turn into a phoenix, but it will still be a sparrow, which is better than a free-roaming chicken.
And at home, we can also use the light of this sparrow to get more help in the officialdom.
If the Bodhisattva manifests his spirit and has great luck, the daughters of the family can climb up to the position of the prince's son Beizi and be attached to the position of concubine or concubine. It is really a matter of the ancestors' good fortune and virtue in the previous life.
The third oldest Hongwen's concubine, Yuanshi, was favored by Hongwen during the autumn hunt.
Although Hong Wen is mediocre and incompetent, for a seventh-grade sesame official who may not meet Long Yan a few times, it is a great honor for his daughter to enter the prince's palace and become a concubine.
Things that I will be grateful for in my next life even when I eat fast and chant Buddha’s name
The Yuan family is considered to be the most prestigious concubine married in the Qiuye marriage.
Just because of the huge difference in status between her and Xuan Wang Hongwen, it was like a carp leaped over the dragon's gate, transforming from a concubine of a seventh-grade sesame official family into the respected concubine of Xuan.
Especially after she gave birth to Huanjing Beizi, she became even more favored.
It was a pity that Huanjing was weak and had been taking medicine since he was born, so he barely reached the age of seven.
The imperial doctor said that Huanjing could not live to be ten years old. Because of this, Hongwen loved Huanjing even more and wanted to give Huanjing more fatherly love and care in his short life of ten years. He went to Yuan's House
There are many more times.
As for Hongwen's eldest son, Huanqiang, the eldest son of the concubine Zhuge, Hongwen gave a lot of hope and had strict requirements. In order to cultivate Huanqiang's independent personality, Chang Chang asked his servants to take Huanqiang to the school.
Through experience, father and son rarely meet each other.
But in private, Hongwen did a lot of things for Huanqiang. For example, the prince often sent small gifts, saying that Huanqiang missed the prince's younger brother and he sent them.
Their brothers had few offspring, only the third child had two sons, so naturally there were no such little tricks like Hongwen's, and the prince and brother Huanqiang and Huanjing were also very close.
During this hunt, the prince also invited brothers Huanqiang and Huanjing to ride in a horse-drawn carriage. In the carriage, there was constant laughter and laughter.
The emperor doesn't care today. He can't tolerate the prince being so unruly.
The prince needs to be strict, unsmiling, and restrained.
But today, he rarely indulged the prince for once.
The convoy arrived at the Nanshan Palace and they arranged to stay. It was already late the first day and they did nothing. In the evening, the emperor held a banquet for the ministers in an open space in the paddock.
The bonfire was brilliant, people were drinking and drinking, and there was harmony and joy in the table. The children were playing around, and the adults were talking about the exciting hunting competition tomorrow.
The monarch and his ministers were not formal, and the female relatives they brought were allowed to sit at the same table. Naturally, they were indispensable. There was a lot of affection between the young men and women at the table, and they looked at each other.
The adults just chatted and pretended not to notice.
Anyway, whether a man falls in love with a woman or a woman falls in love with a man, the parents will have to order the matchmaker to decide what they like now. If the person they like now is not the right one for their parents, then it will be fine if they don’t agree to it.
I won’t spoil the kids’ fun now.
If the children like it now, and the adults are also satisfied with it, then they can happily agree to it, and things will fall into place.
In a world where adults care for themselves, children have their own world, and young men and women who are full of love also have their own little world.
"Hey, it's just a pity that the fourth and fifth children didn't come."
Sitting next to the emperor is Zi Zi Hongwen.
The emperor raised a toast: "The fourth brother is ill, and the fifth daughter-in-law can't leave. Don't let them ruin our brother's happiness. Third brother, come and have a drink."
The emperor's face was rosy and he seemed to be in great spirits.
While Hong Wen was busy, he held the cup with both hands and brought it forward. He lowered himself a little distance from the emperor's quilt, clinked the cup with flattery, and raised his head to drink.
In fact, it is really a good thing for him that the fourth and fifth children are not coming.
During the hunting in previous years, the emperor's brother only focused on getting close to the fourth and fifth brothers, and rarely looked at his mediocre brother. Now that the fourth and fifth brothers were not around, the emperor's brother paid much more attention to him.
He didn't ask much, he just asked the emperor to still take him into consideration.
"Brother Imperial, look at the children, they are having so much fun. It reminds me of many years ago, when we brothers followed our father out for autumn hunting. It was the same."
Hongwen's eyes were full of memories. Thinking of his childhood, he couldn't help but sigh: "We were a family of children at that time. We had three or four brothers and quite a few sisters. The second child was still there, at the emperor's uncle's house.
They are also prosperous and have a lot of brothers and sisters. Look at the prince and the others, they are really lonely with just these few playmates."
After finishing speaking, he turned his head and looked at the emperor belatedly: "Brother Emperor, you said when we were young..."
The voice stopped suddenly, because he saw a coldness in the emperor's eyes, and instantly realized that he had talked too much.
The second child is a taboo and cannot be mentioned. He has seen with his own eyes how the second child is gone, right?
Moreover, what makes the emperor feel most uncomfortable now is probably that among the many women in the harem, only the queen has given birth to a pair of children for her, and there are no other children.
He just spoke too hastily and forgot to think twice before speaking.
This short sentence poked two taboos of the emperor's brother. Now, he remained silent, lowered his eyebrows and lowered his head, not daring to say a word. The hand holding the wine glass was trembling slightly.
"Third brother, why don't you adopt your family Huanqiang to the fourth child?"
"Emperor, imperial brother..."
Hongwen panicked. Misfortune comes from the mouth. Misfortune comes from the mouth. The Zhuge family and the Yuan family gave him countless warnings and instructions, telling him to keep his mouth shut and not to open his mouth when he got interested.
"Haha, I'm just kidding you!"
Although the aloof emperor spoke with a hint of smile, Hongwen clearly felt a thorn in his back.
The emperor is not joking, this is a warning to him.
Warn him not to make trouble with his child, otherwise, he will give his child to Hongzhi who has no heirs.
A cold sweat ran down his spine, but he was still conscious. After all, the emperor cared about brotherhood and was just warning him.
He forced a smile of agreement: "Hehehe, hehe, I know that Brother Huang, you are teasing me. Even if I want to adopt the fourth child, my name is Huanqiang. I am not qualified. Huanqiang followed me, and he is stupid.
He is very clumsy and always speaks without thinking. The fourth child is in poor health and he has been adopted. Don’t make him angry."
He was in a panic to plead guilty and wanted the emperor to give up his idea completely.
That's why I deliberately said that I was stupid and talked nonsense.
"Look at you, I told you, I'm just kidding, you don't need to abuse your child like this. The fourth child is not in good health, and it is difficult to have children. We brothers all know this privately. To be honest, he can't
If you have no children, you will not have anyone to die with."
"Yes Yes Yes!"
He agreed, feeling nervous all the time. Was the emperor planning to give Huanjing's child to the fourth child?
That was his cherished treasure. It only lasted a few years, so how could he let it go?
But I heard the emperor say: "I wonder if the fifth and fourth children have such a good relationship. If they give birth to a son, would they be willing to adopt him to the fourth child?"
Hongwen felt relieved, but felt a little thumped again.
He was stupid, but he knew very well that the emperor's brother seemed to have a different attitude towards Lao Wu.
Maple City secretly promoted Lao Wu's father-in-law and became a general candidate due to his outstanding military achievements.
Previously, singing and dancing geishas were sent to Lao Wu's house every day, creating a ridiculous scene of Lao Wu having fun.
On the day when the imperial edict was issued, he said in front of the emperor, "The prince is now with Lao Wu." The emperor actually sent Eunuch Mo to wait at the gate of the East Palace with a worried look on his face.
Hongwen was stupid, a little stupid, but not stupid. The emperor's behavior was clearly unkind to Lao Wu.
They are all brothers, how could he make up his mind for Lao Wu, but he was stupid and didn't know how to answer. She was hesitating, but fortunately someone came to her rescue: "Dad, my brother has a stomachache, why don't you go and see what's wrong?"
Huanqiang, Huanqiang, you came at the right time.
Hongwen looked at the emperor with an apologetic expression: "Brother Emperor, my little son is not in good health. I really shouldn't have brought him to the mountain. I'll first..."
"No need to be polite. The child has a stomachache. You should go quickly. Don't dare to neglect."
"Yes!" Hong Wen left with nervous eyes and his steps were hurried and fast. Who would have known that firstly, he was worried about Huanjing, and secondly, he was afraid to avoid the emperor's questions.
He left almost as if he was fleeing. The emperor looked at his back, suppressed the careless expression on his face, raised his wine glass, and under the cover of the huge ceramic bowl, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
*
Huanjing was in poor health. Although his mother Yuanshi prepared a lot of medicinal materials for him when he went up the mountain, it was cold when he went up the mountain. Huanjing's child was so happy playing with the prince that he was sweating and cold.
In the house, I felt such abdominal pain that I curled up at the end of the bed.
The banquet in front of them was still going on, with endless laughter and laughter. Hongwen in the room looked at Huanjing's painful appearance and couldn't help but burst into tears.
"My child, please bear with me. Please bear with me. Doctor, what should I do about Huanjing?"
"Your Majesty, Beizi is already weak. He played too much and was sweating and blowing the wind. The sudden heat and cold caused him to feel so unwell. Wei Chen prescribed medicine, fried it and asked the palace maid to feed Beizi and take it.
Relieve some pain."
Even though he said this, Hongwen still felt heartbroken.
The man didn't shed tears lightly, but seeing his own baby in such pain, Hongwen couldn't bear it any longer. He wished he could hug someone and cry loudly. This child was born to suffer.
Now, how much time do I have to spend with this child?
Seeing his father crying like this, Huanqiang felt uncomfortable: "Dad, my brother will be fine."
"Why don't you take good care of your brother and let him run around?"
Hongwen didn't mean to be angry, he just felt so distressed and had nothing to say, so he could only vent his anger on Huanqiang.
Huanqiang was only ten years old, and he felt aggrieved: "Dad, the child said it, but my brother didn't listen."
"As an elder brother, you have no authority at all. If your younger brother doesn't listen to you, what's the use of you?"
"father!"
Seeing that Huanqiang was about to cry, Hongwen's tone finally became better: "Go out, don't run away, you know? Sudden cold and sudden heat will make you catch a cold."
Huanqiang only cared about how wronged he was and said angrily: "You don't care about me if I catch a cold."
After saying that, he ran out.
At the door, the prince, who had been watching cautiously, saw Huanqiang sniffing and running. He quickly spread his legs and chased after him: "Brother Huanqiang, brother Huanqiang."
"Prince, where are you going, Prince!" Two eunuchs caught up with him one after the other.
In the cold air, two rays of silver light suddenly flew out, hitting the two eunuchs' temples impartially. Without even a muffled groan, the two eunuchs softened and collapsed on the ground.
Not far away, a pair of little people, one running in front and the other chasing behind, soon became farther and farther away from the commotion of drinking and drinking, until they completely separated from the crowd and disappeared into the moonlight.
.
*
Hongwen didn't realize that he had spoken seriously. Over the years, Zhuge's tolerance and treatment of Yuan's family had become more and more evident.
It was Huan Qiang who loved and cared for his younger brother, and he saw it in his eyes.
After Huanjing took medicine and fell asleep, he regretted that he shouldn't have said that to Huanqiang.
When he came out to look for Huanqiang, he walked a few steps and suddenly something kicked under his feet. At first glance, he was startled.
"What are you doing? Why are you sleeping on the road?"
He kicked two eunuchs on the ground, but they didn't react at all.
Hongwen looked shocked and squatted down to sniff the two of them!
died!
"Come on, come on, someone is coming, someone is coming!" His scream instantly cut through the sky of the entire paddock palace.
The laughter one moment ago turned into panic now.
"There are assassins, there are assassins, protecting the emperor."
"Where is so-and-so? So-and-so won't be killed, right?"
"Where is my daughter? I just said she was going to urinate. Where is my daughter?"
"Who did it? The two silver needles were obviously fired at the same time. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the two of them to die one after another and the latter one not to call out. Who is it that is so skilled at using hidden weapons?"
"Look, everyone, look and see if your children and their families are here."
…
"Huan Qiang, Huan Qiang!" After scanning the whole place, there was no sign of Huan Qiang. Hong Wen's head exploded with a bang.
The place where the accident happened was ten steps outside Huanjing's room.
Moreover, the time when the imperial doctor diagnosed the death of these two eunuchs was when Huan Qiang ran out.
It seems that at that time he also heard two eunuchs chasing the prince and shouting.
"Prince, I heard them calling Prince, Prince, is Prince here?"
It was a shocking surprise because the prince was missing.
Huan Qiang was gone, even if something happened, no one felt it was a pity, he was just a heir apparent.
But if the prince is missing, even if a hair falls out, it will affect the whole body.
The entire imperial army, almost all military and civilian officials, were dispatched to search the entire paddock for the prince.
The news, no, it should be bad news, came half an hour later.
On the cliff to the east of the paddock, the prince's ribbon hangs.
There are also two rows of mud marks left by the prince's small footprints sliding down the cliff.
"Prince!"
The emperor, who had always been worried, suddenly blacked out when he heard the bad news. If Eunuch Mo hadn't been holding him up, he would have fainted.
"Go, take me to see it."
He didn't believe that the child who was alive and kicking a moment ago was gone at this moment.
If the cliff on the east side really fell, there would be no bones left.
Staggeringly, he pushed Eunuch Mo and others away, got on his horse, and headed east.
Over there, the Imperial Guards were already searching around, and the lights were bright. The Emperor jumped off his horse and saw at a glance the crown prince's ribbon hanging on the branches of the protective fence on the edge of the cliff.
This guardrail is as high as one person to prevent people from falling off the cliff. However, the gap between the guardrails cannot accommodate an adult's thigh, but it is more than enough for a four-year-old child.
Between the two guardrails, there were two groups of mud marks, and the prince's wet nurse was making gestures with the prince's little shoes.
When he saw the emperor coming up, his eyes were filled with pain, and he fell to the ground, his face ashen.
This expression and movement, as well as the pair of small shoes that had just been buckled into the traces of soil, instantly stung the emperor to pieces. He fell down without fainting, but at this moment, even the strength to stand was taken away.
The prince fell off the cliff. Although he didn't believe it, the ribbon that belonged to the prince, the footprints that belonged to the prince along the way, and the muddy marks that belonged to the prince here, how could he not believe it.
"Quickly, find some hemp rope, cross over, and search."
The commander-in-chief of the Jin Yiwei gave orders neatly.
Immediately, someone found a large bundle of hemp rope. A soldier volunteered, tied the hemp rope around his waist, and lowered it down little by little, down, and down.
The emperor's eyes were fixed on the movement of the hemp rope, and he made an agreement that if any clues were found, the people below would shake the rope vigorously.
He prayed, prayed to God, and let the prince hang on the dead branch.
But there was no movement on the hemp rope.
His heart ached like a knife, and he wished he could exchange the life of a four-year-old child in the world for the life of the prince.
"Pull, pull quickly!"
Finally, there was movement on the hemp rope.
But the emperor's heart had long since died. The more than 500 feet of rope had to be put down more than 400 feet before there was any movement. Even if it was hung on a branch and rubbed against rocks along the way, the prince...
He couldn't imagine it.
But I dare not give up hope completely.
The moment he saw the detective coming up, his eyes became a little confused: "How is it?"
he asked eagerly.
The man hesitated for a moment, his eyes full of pain, and with his hands, he brought up some broken and bloody cloth stained with loess and hair.
"There were bloodstains all the way, and at a distance of four hundred feet, Wei Chen discovered these."
"Ah! Prince!" The emperor cried out in pain, and all the ministers burst into tears. At this time, it doesn't matter whether you are really sad or not. What is important is that you have to cry and cry along.
The queen who came after hearing the news actually caused trouble for everyone.
She felt unwell and did not attend the dinner party. She fell asleep until the maid came to report that the prince had fallen off the cliff. She rushed over with her clothes disheveled and her hair disheveled. When she saw everyone wailing and sobbing, the queen had no time to say a word or shed a tear.
He fell unconscious and passed out before he could even make an expression.
Chaos, chaos.
The prince fell off a cliff and died. Only his body was not found. However, according to what the detectives discovered, that small body had already been polished off and only the skeleton was left after falling a thousand feet.
There is a forest at the bottom of the cliff. If there is a beast or something, the prince cannot even save his skeleton.
The prince died before he could acknowledge it.
Since the beginning of the dynasty, every autumn hunt has started happily and ended successfully.
Only this time, it was over before it even started.
Hong Yan and Feng Hongluan rode up the mountain at high speed throughout the night.
However, Hongzhi and his wife were unable to go to Nanshan because Hongzhi suddenly fell ill.
The Jin Yiwei has blocked all the exits. Only people are allowed in, not out. Even those who can enter can only be those with the emperor's permission.
This place is surrounded by cliffs, and the only people who can assassinate eunuchs are those inside. No matter how good an outsider's qinggong is, they can't climb mountains from the cliffs.
The only intersection is heavily guarded and has many checkpoints, so even a fly can't escape detection.
Therefore, the emperor determined that the person who killed the prince was in the mountain.
The one he suspected the most was King Xuan Hongwen and his son.
Huanqiang, shortly after the prince's body was discovered, came back alone with red eyes.
Hongwen himself said that Huanqiang ran away after being scolded by him, and when the prince went to chase him, the eunuch called the prince's name.
Therefore, the prince followed Huan Qiang, but when Huan Qiang came back, the prince died.
Also, Hongwen was the first to discover the corpses of the two eunuchs.
Hongwen is the most suspect.
——Digression——
I went out to get my hair permed today and came back late. I worked hard to come up with these 6,000 words. I owe you 2,000, so I’ll pay you tomorrow!
What follows is mostly a power struggle. There is no palace struggle in this article because the palace struggle has little to do with the female protagonist and the male protagonist.
The ending is still being conceived, so don’t worry, comrade!
The name selection was done, and everyone gave their ideas as to what Hong Yan’s daughter should be called. I accepted whose name I accepted, and for this article, I chose the name of Feng Hongluan’s daughter. In the next article, the female pig’s foot is that name.